She
was born on Oct. 16, 1923 in St. Peter in Fond du Lac County to the late
Louis and Alma (nee Steffen) Freund. On
April 29, 1942, Irene was united in marriage to Arthur Schlefke at St.
John's Ev. Lutheran Church in West Bend. Arthur preceded her in death on
June 9, 1999.

Irene
was a member of Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church. She loved golf and
was a former Hon-E-Kor Champion. She especially enjoyed spending time
with her family.

She is survived by her two children, Mary (William) Lutz of West Bend
and Ronald (Katherine) Schlefke of Nekoosa; four grandchildren, Deborah
(Jon) Swenson of West Bend, Robert (Stephanie) Konstanz of West Bend,
Joseph (Erik Holmgren) Schlefke of St.
Paul, Minn. and Jennifer (Jason Herther) Schlefke of West Bend; two
step-grandchildren, Rick (Gayleen) Lutz of Campbellsport, and Lori
(Jeff) Wendt of Fond du Lac; five great-children, Erik, Andy, Jessica,
Danielle and Nicholas, four step-greatgrandchildren, Emily, Alex,
Brayden and Kaillyn; one brother, Harold (Dorothy) Freund of Dotyville;
two sisters, Edna (Frank) Amhrein of
Fond du Lac and Bernie (Leo) Gruenke of Palm Springs, Calif.; two
sisters-inlaw, Helen (David) Leiknes of Watertown and Ruby Hasenfus of
Beaver Dam; other relatives and dear friends. |

Irene was preceded in death by her
parents; her husband, Arthur; her beloved grandson, Scott Schlefke;
three sisters, Marcella Woelfel, Marie Liebe and Stella Beaudreau and
four brothers, Francis, Aloysius, Norman and Ervin.

Funeral services in remembrance of Irene will be held on Monday, Jan. 18
at 6 p.m. at the Myrhum-Patten Funeral Home (1315 W. Washington Street)
West Bend. The Rev. Robert Hein of Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church
will officiate. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Monday from 3
p.m. until the time of the services. Burial will take place Tuesday,
Jan. 19 at 10 a.m. in Washington County Memorial Park.
Memorials in Irene's name to the Good Shepherd Choir are appreciated by
the family.

The
family would like to extend a thank you to the staff at Tri-Manor,
Heartland Hospice and especially Dr. Sajdak, for the wonderful care
extended to Irene. You are all the best care angels anyone could have.